Television networks often store their media content across multiple special purpose servers. For example a server can be a central archive for all of the network's media content. This server is designed to manage large amounts of media content securely and robustly to avoid the loss of any of the network's media content. A separate media server can provide the broadcast signal, media stream, or other manner of transmission of the media content to users. The media server often does not store large amounts of media content, rather it stores only the media content that it will broadcast in the near future. When using such a configuration, the media server downloads media content from the archive servers prior to broadcast.
Various problems can occur when the media server downloads media content from the archive server. For example, the download can terminate before an entire media file transfers. In other instances, the media file can be corrupted. Often the error is not discovered until the media server attempts to broadcast the media and the signal goes to black, which is an undesirable result for any network. Accordingly, an efficient mechanism for determining whether the media content stored on the video server is incomplete or corrupt is desirable.